Tony Hall appointed as Director-General of the BBC

Following today’s announcement by the BBC Trust regarding the appointment of Tony Hall as the next Director-General of the BBC, Simon Robey, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Royal Opera House, has made the following statement:

“I was not surprised when the BBC turned to Tony to lead them through their current difficulties. They see, as we do, his qualities of leadership and his depth of relevant experience. I can think of nobody better able to bring stability back to the BBC.

“Tony has been a truly distinguished Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. He has been a tremendous and inspiring force for good. The ROH he will leave in March is very different to the one he took over in 2001. We have a world-class senior team, both artistic and non-artistic, led by Antonio Pappano, Kasper Holten and Kevin O'Hare. Our artistic standards and reputation have never been higher and are unsurpassed around the world. Many, many more people see the extraordinary work of both companies through audience development programmes, ticket pricing initiatives and digital and cinema distribution. We have a very large and impactful education and community engagement programme and we are now a beacon of best practice in the arts sector. We are financially stable and we have changed the mix of our funding so that our ACE grant (now down from 40% to about 25% of our income) and our philanthropic revenue is broadly in balance. Tony deserves credit for all of this and we now face the future, with its inevitable challenges and opportunities, with strong foundations and very broad and loyal support.

“Speaking personally, I will miss him tremendously. He has been an outstanding colleague and friend, as I know he has been to many others at the Royal Opera House.

“We will turn immediately to finding a worthy successor. I am confident that this exceptional place will continue to be led by an exceptional person.

“There will be good occasions to celebrate Tony's extraordinary contribution to the Opera House over the coming weeks and, of course, we all look forward to welcoming him back to the opera and ballet house he loves so much as a treasured member of our audience for years to come.”

Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera added “Tony Hall has been a great friend and colleague and a formidable presence in the Royal Opera House. He has not only created a working atmosphere that is always positive and remarkably focused, but has been on the front line of fighting for the arts in this country. On his watch, the outreach of the Opera House has blossomed through cinema and television, reaching a whole new audience for opera and ballet.

“I’m very sad to be losing Tony to the BBC, but it is obviously a fantastic opportunity for him. We will miss him very much, but wish him only the best of luck.”

Kasper Holten, Director of Opera said “Congratulations to the BBC. They are very lucky. Tony is the most inspirational leader I have ever worked for. He will be sorely missed at the ROH and by me personally, but I am excited for him about this, and I am sure he will do a fantastic job.

“Tony's importance for Royal Opera House cannot be overestimated and he has managed to create an incredible platform for us to do our artistic work and take opera forward.”

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet said “Tony’s genuine love for ballet and dance has been a huge advantage for The Royal Ballet. He’s done so much, not only for this Company, but for dance in general through the Dance Review and support for the sector. I feel privileged to have worked with him, both in my previous roles and now as Director of The Royal Ballet. He’s been an inspiration and a great support to me over the years, and has been fundamental to our programme of new initiatives to bring ballet to a wider audience. He’s also been a great friend to me and to many people in the building. We will all miss him.”

This article has 4 comments

Please pass this along to Tony Hall: As a loyal listener to BBC World Service, I beg him to bring back the superb news operation that recent management has turned into a CIRCUS of sports and the ear-clanging chatter, chuckling, giggling of new on-air "personalities" and their constant broadcasting of barely understandable audience "guests". World Service listeners around the world depended on it for accurate, in-depth news instead of a replication of every ubiquitous pop "news" station in the world. How I long to hear Europe Today or a hard-news Newshour again; I can no longer trust the media in my own country.

Congratulations to Tony Hall - he has done a GREAT job at ROH for a long time, but now BBC need him back to sort out the mess and bring BBC back as the National Television of choice. Antonio, Kasper and Kevin are marvellous and will carry on the work and whomever takes over from Tony will have great support, although some pretty big shoes to fill!!

Good luck and THANK YOU to Tony - we have been lucky to have you for so long.

Hard to think of anyone better qualified to try and restore normal service at the Beeb. All the best to him there. But he has done a fantastic job - along with many others - at the ROH and leaves it in wonderful shape. Change at the top is always difficult, especially when it's not been sought, but hopefully new blood will build on, perhaps even improve on what has been a fantastic decade since the redevelopment.